Antony Belov

It so happened that for the covers of my works, I use style transfer based on a painting I really like. A free web app has been helping me with this. But sometimes its responses are poor. Plus, I worry that at some point it might go paid or bombard me with ads. So I started looking for a more reliable alternative.

My first thought was to use ChatGPT and its built-in tools. But no matter how promising the results seemed, sometimes the resources weren't enough, or it suspected me of improper use of photos. I could’ve tried another AI service or found a specialized solution, but then a second thought hit me.

The second thought - why not build my own? The task seems simple: apply the style from one image to another. The result would be an in-house solution and a better understanding of how it works “under the hood”. Long story short,

Web Performance is one of those topics that’s constantly discussed as crucial for the modern web. It’s often framed as a key factor for user experience (UX), conversions, SEO, and overall success on the Internet. Every year kicks off with an article titled “New Challenges and Why Fast Websites Will Win in 20xx.”

Yet when it comes to implementation, performance tasks in the backlog often don’t get the priority they deserve. This happens for two main reasons, two key questions arise:

1.Is it really that important? - Users aren’t complaining; everything loads quickly for me, too. Plus, our internal research hasn’t shown a clear correlation between performance metrics and search rankings. What even is a CLS of 0.4, and why should I care?

2.Is it worth the effort? - There are too many metrics; they’re confusing, and new ones keep popping up all the time. On top of that, the tools are complex and expensive. Wouldn’t it be better to invest resources in product features instead?

Fssh…

-We are once again joined live by our special correspondent on the scene. Herman, what’s the situation like over there?
-Good evening, Maria. It’s a very dire situation. Firefighters have been battling the flames for three days, but the fire has continued to spread across the factory. Reinforcements from nearby districts and local volunteers are helping, but it’s still not enough to subdue the inferno.
-Any more casualties?
-Sadly, yes. More people have been found beneath the rubble, with two in critical condition. Doctors are doing everything they can. But most of the factory is still inaccessible to rescuers. Reports suggest that staff were still inside when the explosion occurred.
-We can only hope for the best. Any predictions?
-It’s hard to say.

How much better to get wisdom than gold (с)

Wisdom is a fundamental and inestimable quality of a rational person. It helps you to make meaningful decisions, find harmony with the world and yourself, understand shades of grey and live a full life. So everything seems to be simple, but at the same time, how to acquire this very wisdom?

First of all, wisdom is an understanding of yourself, your thoughts, aspirations and feelings. It is impossible to talk about harmony with the world when there is no awareness of oneself in this world, no understanding of one's place in the Universe, no desire to know oneself. It is vital for a person to look for one’s business, one’s passion, one’s essence, no matter how difficult it may seem at first glance and no matter how much time it takes. And a person is able to thoroughly understand only oneself.

Talking about artificial intelligence and the place of intelligent robots in the not so far future of man, we often compare them with the slaves, who helped once the pharaohs to create the eternal pyramids or the English to colonize the new world. Those comparisons are not accidental, because firstly we create robots to improve our life and eliminate routine work, to serve us. But I’d like to remind about one more important comparison and raise the primary question: creating a life, does man become God?

It’s pretty difficult to give a simple answer to this question, because the ability to create life is the necessary but insufficient quality of God. According to the teachings of theistic and deistic religions, God creates and structures the world, gives a being, measure and value for everything. And engineer first of all "knocks out" on the chip the main three laws,